Hiʻa: The Hawaiian Fish Shrine of Faith and Abundance

The Meaning of the Hiʻa

The word hiʻa means “to offer” or “to raise up.” Each hiʻa was a physical and spiritual structure — a pile of carefully chosen stones placed near the shore or atop cliffs overlooking the ocean. Here, fishers (lawaiʻa) honored Kuʻula Kai, the god of fishermen, and his son ʻAiʻai, guardian of fishing places (koʻa).

“E hiʻa i ke kai, e ola ka ʻupena.”
Offer to the sea, and the net will live.

Building the Hiʻa

Every hiʻa was built with intention:

• Foundation Stones: gathered from the shoreline, representing the strength of Papa, the earth mother.
• Red Stones (pōhaku ʻula ʻula): dedicated to Kuʻula Kai, symbolizing vitality and the life force of the sea.
• Flat Stone Altar: where offerings of fish, salt, or limu kala (seaweed of forgiveness) were placed.

The hiʻa was always positioned to face the prevailing winds and tides — a bridge between land and ocean, man and spirit.

Daily Rituals and Offerings

Fishing was never begun without visiting the hiʻa. At dawn, before the first throw of the ʻupena, fishers offered the first catch of the previous day:

• A small fish tied with cord.
• A pinch of salt.
• A whispered pule (prayer):

“E Kuʻula Kai, e ʻAiʻai, e mālama i nā lawaiʻa, e hānai mai ka ʻai o ke kai.”
Kuʻula Kai, ʻAiʻai, watch over the fishers, and feed us the food of the sea.

When the catch was poor, the hiʻa became a place of reflection rather than complaint. The fisher would leave empty-handed but not hopeless — understanding that the sea gives in its own time.

The Hiʻa and the Koʻa

The hiʻa worked in harmony with the koʻa, or fishing ground. The koʻa was the oceanic counterpart to the hiʻa — a place beneath the waves where fish gathered and multiplied. The relationship between shrine and reef symbolized the balance between offering and reward.

Community and Teaching

The hiʻa was not only spiritual — it was social. Elders taught children to respect the shrine before learning to throw the net. The act of placing an offering was a lesson in humility: that sustenance depended on care, not dominance.

“He hiʻa, he hōʻailona o ke aloha ʻāina.”
The shrine is a sign of love for the land and sea.

Decline and Revival

With the arrival of Western religion and modernization, many hiʻa were abandoned or destroyed. Yet along remote coasts of Maui, Molokaʻi, and Hawaiʻi Island, stone piles still stand — weathered but alive with story.

Today, cultural practitioners and fishers restore these sacred sites, blending ancient ritual with modern stewardship. Reviving the hiʻa is not superstition — it is sustainability, rooted in gratitude.

The Lesson of the Hiʻa

The hiʻa teaches that prosperity requires offering, that abundance follows respect, and that every catch begins with a gift. To build a hiʻa is to acknowledge dependence — on ancestors, on ocean, and on the unseen forces that sustain life.

Every prayer at the hiʻa was a promise: that the fisher would take only what was needed, and that the sea, in return, would never forget their kindness.

Footnotes

1. Malo, Hawaiian Antiquities — “Kuʻula, ʻAiʻai, and the Fishermen’s Shrines.”
2. Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology — “Temples and Altars of the Sea.”
3. Pukui, ʻŌlelo Noʻeau — “E hiʻa i ke kai, e ola ka ʻupena.”
4. Titcomb, Native Use of Fish in Hawaiʻi (1948).
5. Bishop Museum Archives — surveys of fishing shrines on Maui, Hawaiʻi, and Kauaʻi.